Tilapia with Cucumber Mint Relish

Tilapia with Cucumber Mint Relish

I got this recipe from a blog that I follow. It is really yummy. I only tried the fish but my mom tried it with the relish and really liked it.

Coconut, Mint, and Chive Relish:

1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped English Cucumber
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 jalapeno peppers seeded and minced
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Fish:
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon peanut oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I only used half this because I don't like things very hot)
6 ( 6 ounce) tilapia fillets
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Cooking spray
lime wedges

I haven't tried this but it sounds good.
Coconut Rice:

1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup white rice (not instant)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1. Preheat Boiler

2. To prepare Coconut Rice: Combine 1 cup coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring OFTEN. Once it is boiling, add the rice and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes. Once rice is cooked add 1 Tablespoon of sugar, sprinkle on top and let it soak in for a few minutes.
3. To prepare relish: Combine cucumber, chives, coconut, mint, cilantro, and jalapeno. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 Tablespoons of lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. Heat 1 teaspoon peanut oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds; saute 30 seconds or until seeds begin to pop. Add to cucumber mixture. Set aside
5. To prepare fish: Combine lime rind, lime juice, peanut oil, cumin, and red pepper; rub evenly over fish. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Place fish on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil (easier to clean up) and broil 7-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

6. Serve fish over coconut rice topped with cucumber relish

Breakfast Cookies

When I was in college I had these dreams of having my own family and fixing them a nice breakfast every morning. I don't know why it was breakfast and not dinner, but that was my dream. Well I married a man who has been eating the same thing forever, chocolate chip eggo waffles with peanut butter and syrup. I did pretty good with James at first. Our friends were amazed when they watched him one morning and I gave them a whole serving of oatmeal and said he would eat the entire thing. And he did. But now James is the pickiest eater in the world and only eats waffles like his dad. So my dreams of fixing breakfast are out the window. But tonight I found this recipe. I made one and James actually ate two bites. It took me about 5 minutes to make it and I ate it for my before bed snack. It didn't sound very good at first. But it was. Anyway we tried the banana chocolate chip one with peanut butter on top. I would like to try the pumpkin one, but I don't think any of the other members of the family would.

Basket 411: Breakfast Cookies

Chicken Fajitas

Notes

Marinating chicken and peppers and onions in a highly flavored marinade and then grilling gives it all the flavor without fat. A spiced creamy yogurt sauce and avocado sauce wrapped in a corn tortilla with fresh cilantro keeps the fajitas healthy and fresh tasting.

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed cilantro leaves, plus extra for serving
• 1/4 cup lime juice, about 2 limes
• 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth (GF)
  
• 3 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 jalapeno, seeded if desired
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Kosher salt
• 1 1/2-pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
• 2 orange and/or yellow bell peppers, quartered, seeds removed
• 1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 cup fat-free Greek Yogurt
• 12 corn tortillas

1. Put the cilantro, lime juice, broth, scallions, garlic, jalapeno, honey, and salt in a blender, puree until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons; do not wash out the blender.

Put chicken breasts in a medium bowl and the peppers and onions in another. Divide the remaining cilantro puree evenly between the chicken and the peppers and onions. Toss well to coat the chicken and vegetables and let stand, at room temperature, for 30 minutes.

2. Add the avocado, 1/2 cup water, and the reserved 2 tablespoons cilantro sauce to the blender. Puree until smooth and season with salt. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a small skillet set over medium heat until hot. Add the cumin and coriander and continue to cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pour the spices over the yogurt and set aside for the flavors to blend. Stir before serving.

4. Preheat a grill for medium-high/direct heat cooking. Oil the grill grates. Grill the chicken and vegetables, turning, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F, about 5 to 8 minutes for the vegetables and 12 to 15 minutes for the chicken. Let chicken rest 5 minutes. Place the tortillas on the grill until just warmed through, about 30 seconds.

5. To assemble the fajitas: slice the onions and peppers into thin strips and then slice the chicken. Place some peppers, onions, chicken and cilantro in a tortilla topped with the spiced yogurt and the avocado sauce.

Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is from a Bosch web site. I use the large Mixer Method but need to share the bread with neighbors as we can not eat that much bread, but this is really yummy whole wheat bread as Kent, Jordyn, Brandon, Ali and I will attest to. (I use a hard white wheat that I got from the church cannery)

Hand Method: (yields 2 loaves)
1/3 C honey
1/3 C oil
2 1/2 C Warm Water
1 1/2 TB Saf Instant Yeast
2 1/2 tsp Real Salt
6-7 C Fresh whole wheat flour
1 1/2 TB Dough Enhancer

or
Large Mixer Method: (yields 5-6 loaves)
2/3 C honey
2/3 C oil
6 C warm water
3 TB Saf Instant Yeast
1 1/2 - 2 TB Real Salt
16-20 C fresh whole wheat flour
3 TB Dough Enhancer
1/3-1/2 Cup Vital Gluten
or
Zojirushi Bakery Supreme (Auto Baker Method)
2 TB honey
2 TB oil
1 1/2 C water (90 - 100F)
1 1/2 tsp Real Salt
3 1/2 C fresh whole wheat flour
2 tsp Dough Enhancer
3 TB Vital Gluten
1 1/2 tsp Saf Instant Yeast

Combine the warm water, yeast, and 2 Cups of fresh whole wheat flour in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sponge for 15 minutes. Add the honey, oil, dough enhancer, salt and 4-5 C (12-16 C if using the Mix N Blend or (Bosch) additional flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Do not allow the dough to get too stiff (too dry). Dough should be smooth and elastic. It is a common mistake for the beginning bakers to add too much flour.
Knead the bread by hand 7-10 minutes or until it is very smooth, elastic, and small bubbles or blisters appear beneath the surface of the dough. Six to ten minutes of kneading by electric mixer (Use speed 1 on the Bosch Universal, and use speed 4 on the Mix n Blend - or use the Auto-Knead function) should be sufficient to develop the gluten if you are using fresh flour. If you are kneading by hand, be sure to add the minimum amount of flour to keep the dough soft and pliable by using a tsp of oil on your hands and kneading surface.
Form the dough into 2 loaves if using the hand method or 5-6 loaves if using the Mix N Blend or Bosch Universal, method. Place the dough into greased loaf pans. Allow to rise in a slightly warmed oven or other warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes).
Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Bread is cooked through when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, and when the top and sides are a golden brown color.

Easy Artisan Bread

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

3 C lukewarm water (about 100 degrees)

Cornmeal.

(You can easily double or half the recipe. For Thanksgiving I made a full batch and got about 20 rolls from it).

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into water. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches (I always do this by hand, but you can use an electric mixer). Dough will be quite loose and wet. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife (To make the rolls I cut off a smaller piece of dough). Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel or cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Refrigerate any unused dough.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan (rather than use the broiler pan, I just throw a cup of water against the side of the oven, making sure not to hit the dough—it's easier and you don't get burned) and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes for a loaf (or about 20 minutes for the smaller rolls). Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

This recipe comes from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and is an amazing cookbook! They've got all sorts of variations on this recipe and everything I've made from the book is absolutely delicious! I definitely whole-heartedly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291064479&sr=1-1

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

It always seems around this time of year I get really tired of what we have for dinner.  So I have been trying a lot of new things and this one is definitely a keeper.  I got the recipe here but modified it slightly.

• Meatballs 
• 1 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoons granulated sugar

• Sauce
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

I didn't think there was enough sauce so I doubled it (Using chicken broth instead of pineapple juice) but that was too much so maybe 1 1/2 times would be perfect 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a large, shallow baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs and onion. Sprinkle with ginger, seasoning salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and sugar and mix in. Shape into one inch balls.
3. Place meatballs in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes; set aside. I turned them halfway so they didn't get burned on the bottom.
4. To make the sauce, mix enough water with the reserved pineapple juice to make 1 cup. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the juice mixture, 1/3 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir in cornstarch, ginger and seasoning salt, until smooth. Cover and cook until thickened.
5. Stir pineapple chunks, carrot, green pepper and meatballs into the sauce. Gently stir to coat the meatballs with the sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked. I found that after 20 minutes the green peppers were still pretty hard so I would maybe cook it a little longer.  Also we used celery instead of carrots.  

Eggplant Parmesan

I used a recipe from here but modified it quite a bit for our family.  The recipe called for 3 eggplants, I used 1 and it made about half a 9x13 pan so 1 1/2 to 2 is probably plenty.
eggplant peeled
eggs
Italian bread crumbs
Spaghetti Sauce (I used the recipe from Brandon and Ali's chicken Parm)
16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil

1. First you prepare your eggplant. Peel it and slice it.  Then "sweet" it to take out the bitterness.  You sprinkle it with salt and let sit for 30 minutes.  Then rinse well and dry.
2. Next dip the eggplant in beaten egg and cover with bread crumbs.  Place in single layer on greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes on each side at 350 degrees.
3. In a 9x13 dish spread bottom with spaghetti Sauce.  Place a layer of eggplant in the sauce and sprinkle with cheeses.  Repeat with remaining eggplant ending with cheeses on top. Sprinkle with basil.
4. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.